Dangerous Territory
by Xx.LoveIsABlessing.xX
Summary: Theme 66 in the 100 Themes Challenge.


**#66 : Dangerous Territory**

"You go in."

"Nope. I'm not going to be attacked again. It's your turn."

"Why is it my turn?"

"You've been here longer than me."

"You grew up around arabians and excuse me for saying but aren't they supposed to be one of the harder to handle breeds?"

"... I'm not going back in there."

A few yards away from the gate where the two young men sat arguing with one another about who should enter the field stood a black and white paint mare. She chewed a mouthful of grass, her head lowered but her eyes on the two at the gate. She dared them to come in here with her and her baby again.

Said baby, a three hour old bay and white colt, was standing at his dam's side, his little ears pricked forward as he stared at the two figures at the white gate.

Ty Baldwin, one of the young men at the gate, sighed and ran a hand into his dark brown hair, his emerald green eyes focussed on the mare and foal in the pasture in front of him. "We've got to get them into the barn before the storm gets here or the foal could get sick."

The blonde standing beside him, Ben Stillman, lifted his blue eyes to the overcast sky over their heads and grimaced, "It doesn't look like we have long to do that, Ty."

As if agreeing with him, a crack of thunder sounded from the dark clouds overhead.

The mare in front of them was a seven year old paint mare named Dixie who'd come to Heartland after her owners, whom had just adopted her from a rescue agency, discovered she absolutely hated men after she had tried to attack the husband of the woman who'd adopted her. It was thought she hated men because the people she'd been rescued from, a pair of brothers, had abused her.

When she'd come to Heartland two weeks before, no one had known that she was pregnant, she'd been so thin, but just hours before she had surprised everyone by delivering the tiny foal that now stood beside her.

Ty and Ben were trying to get the pair into the barn before the storm came and so that Scott Trewin, the local vet, could come and have a look at mother and baby to make sure they were both alright. So far Ben had been brave enough to enter the field and had been promptly chased out by Dixie.

Her aggression towards men had at least tripled now that she had a small bundle of fur beside her.

"How long until Amy gets home? She may have to be the one to move them. Dixie likes her." Ben said.

Ty glanced at his watch and groaned, "She shouldn't be here for another fourty-five minutes and there's no way the rain is going to hold off that long."

Ben groaned, "Great, so we _have_ to do something, and soon."

"Yep." Ty said.

The two silently watched the mare for another minute and she did the same to them, her foal suckling again.

Ty sighed and held out his hand, "Give me the halter and lead, maybe I can get close enough to get it on her."

"Be careful." Ben said as he handed it over, a worried look in his blue eyes.

Nodding, Ty carefully opened the gate just enough for himself to enter and shut it back behind him, keeping his eyes on the mare in the field. As soon as he'd opened the gate, her head had gone up and her ears had gone down. He took a deep breath and took a cautious step towards the mare.

"Easy, girl. We need to get you and your baby inside." Ty said soothingly as he slowly walked towards her.

In answer, Dixie turned so that her hindquarters were to Ty, turning her delicate head around to watch him as he got closer. She kept her ears down in a warning to him, and stamped her back hoof as he took another step towards her.

_'I hope you have a plan, Ty.' _Ben thought as he watched his friend and fellow stablehand get closer to the aggressive mare. He was worried about Ty getting injured by the aggressive mare, especially now that she had a foal to defend. He gripped the gate tightly in his hands, opening it a crack just in case he needed to run in and help Ty.

Ty took another step and Dixie made a mock charge at him, making Ty freeze and causing Ben to react.

"Hold on, Ty! Maybe I can help distract her." Ben called as he entered the field and shut the gate securely behind him.

Seeing that both of them were in the field made Dixie's anger grow and a bubble of fear enter her emaciated figure. She moved to block her foal from their view and threw up her head with an angry snort.

"Easy girl, we aren't here to hurt you." Ty said as he took a step, Ben swinging around to walk a few yards away from Ty but at the same distance from Dixie.

"Come on, Dixie. Let's get you and your baby inside where its warm." Ben joined in on trying to sooth the mare's nerves.

She was having none of it and as they steadily got closer she shocked them both by going up on her hind legs and striking angrily at the air before coming back down and herding her foal down the field and away from the two young men.

Ben looked to Ty, "She doesn't know if she wants to be furious with us or scared of us."

Ty sighed, "With her past, can you really blame her?"

Ben shook his head, "No, but I can sure be mad at those two idiots that made her this way."

"Agreed." Ty muttered. He and Ben watched Dixie for a long moment, wondering what they should do so that they wouldn't scare her even more than they already were.

"We have to think of a different way to do this. She doesn't need the kind of stress we're putting her under, especially after just giving birth." Ben called over to Ty, who nodded.

"I know, I'm trying to think of something. Any ideas?" Ty asked.

"None at the moment. We've got to do something, the rain is going to be here before we know it." Ben said.

The dark clouds overhead rumbled ominously and they saw a streak of lightning cut through the sky.

"That is not a good sign." Ty said and Ben nodded in agreement, abandoning where he stood to go stand beside Ty.

At the bottom of the field, Dixie had also seen the streak of lightning and while she wanted to keep her baby out of the coming storm that she was sensing, she wanted nothing to do with the two young men that had been advancing on her and her new baby. As far as she was concerned, they were the enemy.

"Is there any way that we could guide her into a stall without getting our hands on her? Like set up a little fenced in trail to the stall?" Ben asked.

Ty considered the idea. "I like it, but we don't have the materials to make it happen."

Ben sighed, "Anything else we do is going to get her so stressed out." He tilted his head in thought and suddenly his eyes went wide, "Wait, what about Lou? Is she here or has she already went to the store?"

"I don't know. Let's go check and maybe us leaving will help her calm down some." Ty said and Ben nodded. They jogged up the field and left through the gate, quickly heading over to the house to see if Lou could come help them get the mare inside.

Dixie watched them go, feeling relieved that they had finally given up and left. Now she could focus on her foal. Turning to her unnamed son, she nuzzled him lovingly and started looking around the pasture they were in to see just what shelter was available to them. Discovering nothing, she heaved a sigh and decided that she'd just have to make sure that she stood against the wind and do as much as she could to protect her baby from the elements. Her plan was thrown off, however, as the two young men returned a moment later, a quickness to their stride that let her know they were getting desperate. She pinned her ears as, once again, they entered the field she and her son were in.

"We only missed her by ten minutes! Ugh!" Ben groaned as he and Ty returned to the field. Lou had already went to town to pick up groceries and run errands.

Ty let out a breath, "We'll just have to stress her out long enough to get her into the stall, then we'll make sure to back off so that she can settle down."

"Alright. Let's try this again." Ben sighed and opened the gate to enter in ahead of Ty.

The two started down the field again, this time not really paying too much attention to the mare as they tried to devise a plan.

"What if we got a rope on the baby? Surely she'd follow her foal into the stall." Ben suggested.

"Yeah, I just hate the thought of the first time a hand touches that foal it being a bad experience like that would be." Ty admitted.

"That's true. But we could make up for it later, right now we have to keep the foal healthy so that it can have a later. Plus Dixie really needs to be checked out, the baby too." Ben replied.

"True. Alright, let's try and get this lead on the baby." Ty said, unclipping the halter from the lead rope.

"I'll take the halter, just in case she gets close enough where we can slip it on her." Ben said and Ty handed it over to him.

Seeing them coming towards her and her baby, Dixie flattened her ears and took a step towards them, deciding that enough was enough.

All parties froze, however, as drips of rain started falling from the clouds overhead.

The tiny foal lifted his head curiously as the wetness settled on his small body and head. He tilted his head curiously and Dixie looked again at the two intruders.

Ty and Ben both groaned as the rain started coming down harder and, much to their shock, Dixie seemed to do the same.


End file.
